Rally: 15 Years of Injustice for
Mohamed Harkat

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, come out to rally for justice for Mohamed Harkat and oppose the Liberal government’s attempts to deport him to torture under Canada’s security certificate regime. Secret trials, secret evidence and security certificates are an attack on the rights of all and must be opposed.

Background

Algerian refugee Mohamed Harkat, who has lived in Canada since 1995, was arrested on a secret hearing security certificate on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2002, and subsequently detained without charge for 3.5 years, often in solitary confinement, under the draconian process that prevents him and his lawyers from seeing the heart of the allegations and evidence against him. In the intervening years, he and his wife have struggled under a brutal series of house arrest bail conditions and fought efforts to have him deported to torture in Algeria.

Security Certificates were declared unconstitutional in 2007, but reinstated with a minor alteration that still allows security-cleared lawyers to see some of the secret case, but neither the detainee nor their public counsel is allowed to be present.

“Even after two decades of living in Canada as a peaceful and productive citizen, Moe faces the possibility of deportation to torture,” said Tim McSorley, National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. “Canada has obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture that it must live up to.”

Since 2006, Harkat and his wife have lived under some of the most restrictive bail conditions in Canadian history. Harkat’s latest bail review took place on November 16-17, and they await a court decision on whether they will see a relaxation of the bail conditions, which continue to cause major health issues for the couple and limitations to every day life.